Hot Topic: Kit Harington

There are a thousand ways to describe HBO's froth-inducing Game of Thrones, but don't let star Kit Harington hear you say the word `Dungeons' or `Dragons'. "I read something recently, I think it was a review, where they said the show appealed to that crowd," he tells ELLE, "and I thought that was very wrong. People are enjoying it for a different reason." On first glance, the hit show's weaving narrative—not to mention invented languages, scantily-clad maidens and mortal combat—suggest Thrones is guaranteed geek fare. But its hunky cast, Harington included, is swiftly changing the fantasy genre's demographic.

Age: 25Provenance: EnglandCurrent Location: West Hollywood, Calif.

Rule-playing romantic: "When someone is off limits, you have to know and move past that and say, `That's not allowed,'" he explains. And though he admits to having felt the burn of unrequited love, "I'm not going to say who."

It's 5 o'clock...somewhere: "We finished filming about 5PM because that's when it gets dark in Iceland...Essentially, we'd go back to the hotel and go to the bar. We always ended up at the bar a bit too early."

A winning combination: "To see him work is incredible," he says of filming The Seventh Son (out 2013) alongside Jeff Bridges. "The way he approaches a project is utterly new to how I've seen anyone before. He puts so much of his heart and soul into what he's doing... He's like [his character] The Dude [from The Big Lebowski]. He is! He's an amazing guy. He's like The Dude, but he also takes his work very seriously. The perfect combination."

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Say it ain't Snow! Last week's episode left Throne fans pondering the fate of their favorite Night Watcher after an encounter with the villainous Craster. "It's a big cliffhanger," Harington confesses. "I won't say he's definitely not dead."

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